A typical piston-and-cylinder type internal combustion engine generally includes a plurality of pistons/cylinders in one or more rows as well as a cylinder head assembly. The cylinder head assembly includes a piston rod and at least one valve for each piston/cylinder, operatively associated with a respective rocker arm and a valve cover in sealing engagement with the cylinder head assembly.
The valve cover in the internal combustion engine is attached to the cylinder head assembly by fasteners and a cover gasket that ensures that the cavity that is defined by a body of the cover is adequately sealed from the surrounding atmosphere by the establishment of a seal between the marginal portion of the body of the cover and the adjacent portion of the cylinder head. Fasteners are provided to secure the valve cover to the cylinder head and to deform the ring into sealing engagement with the surfaces surrounding a dovetailed groove and into sealing engagement with the adjacent portion of the cylinder head. The sealing ring is vulcanized to the cover in an operation which follows the placing of the ring into the groove. Thus, the sealing ring is produced as a separate part which is thereupon inserted into the groove of the cover, and the sealing ring is thereupon treated to adhere to the cover. This is a time-consuming and costly operation because it involves (i) the making of a sealing ring independently of the cover; (ii) forcing the produced ring into the groove of the cover; and (iii) an additional treatment of the ring in order to ensure the establishment of an adequate seal between the ring and the cover. The sealing action of such gaskets is not entirely satisfactory, especially as concerns the seal between the ring and the cover.
Furthermore, crankcase ventilation systems or breathers may be added to the valve covers for assisting in removing vapors from the vehicle engine and preventing vapors from being expelled directly into the environment. Fabrication of such valve covers generally requires consideration of various different conditions to which the valve covers will be exposed as part of the engine of an automotive vehicle, such as vibration, thermal cycling, space considerations and the like. However, typical valve cover assemblies having a ventilation system are manufactured from stamped steel and sealed to the cylinder head assembly with a cork or a rubber gasket thereby providing inadequate sealing due to failure of the seal by vibration, thermal cycling, and inconsistent dimensions between the valve cover and the pre-manufactured seal. Therefore, there exists a need in the art to provide an improved valve cover that provides adequate sealing.